Category: issues

“Te Papa [the country’s national museum] is asking pregnant or menstruating women not to visit a behind-the-scenes exhibit at the museum out of respect for Maori beliefs.” A spokesperson says, “Pregnant women are sacred and the policy is in place to protect women from these objects” and the spirits believed to inhabit them.

“According to an October 8 email that just came across our desk, Lincoln Center has had an outbreak of bedbugs in the dressing rooms at the David H. Koch Theater,” home to New York City Ballet and New York City Opera.

“While our challenges may be highlighted by the recent recession, the Americans for the Arts study shows that we have been in decline for some time. Maybe sequestration of our art is resulting in decreasing cultural value, contributing to the reduced philanthropic market share?”

“Transgression, disgrace, redemption, oblivion — the whole self-destructive cycle, from public denial, to groveling, to “Dancing with the Stars,” to the sweet hereafter (Us Magazine), is such a part of 21st century life that it’s something of a scandal itself that there hasn’t been a serious consideration of scandal.”

“Half the world’s 7,000 languages – most of them unwritten – are withering away for various political and economic reasons, disappearing at the rate of one every two weeks when their remaining elderly speakers die.”

“The creative industries in the UK are now as large as the financial sector, and unlike the City whiz-kids, the National Theatre, the Royal Opera House, the Tate galleries, along with flourishing film, advertising, fashion and publishing businesses, haven’t brought the country to its knees.”

“The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Bristol, found that youngsters who spend hours each day in front of the TV or games console have more psychological difficulties like problems relating to peers, emotional issues, hyperactivity or conduct challenges, than those who don’t.”

“Much of this has to do, of course, with the length of his City Hall stay, but it is also the result of a couple of strong and influential women.”

“The AT&T Performing Arts Center faces a first-year operating deficit of more than $2million that could climb as high as $3million, its new board president said last week. He said the bath of red ink will wash into the second year and possibly the third.”

When the Montreal Symphony moves into its new concert hall next year, it will leave big vacancies in the schedule of the Salle Wilfred-Pelletier. “Bear in mind the lament of the late impresario Sam Gesser: He could never bring in a Really Big Show for a long run because the MSO had a lock on the place, week in and week out. Now the coast is clear, or nearly so.”